Meet Penny Padgett, a twenty-seven-year-old cartoonist in Philadelphia who agrees to pet-sit a very peculiar cat named Godfrey in her home. At first, he’s a warm and affectionate companion who follows Penny all around the house and insists on sleeping by her side every night. But soon strange things are happening: Penny is haunted by disturbing and violent nightmares. There’s a terrible insect infestation in her basement. Her cute cartoon illustrations turn dark and surreal, as if influenced by some invisible hand. And her health starts failing, as if her mind and body are under attack by a sinister, malevolent force.
Penny may be a cat person, but she’s starting to think Godfrey is no ordinary cat. . . .
I was SO excited to dive into this one after loving Jason’s last book, Hidden Pictures, and going in blind made thiseven more fun. I only knew there was a cat involved and that one of my favorite narrators, Stephanie Neméth-Parker, was behind the audiobook. The writing is typical of the author—straightforward and immersive, with lots of engaging dialogue and dark humor thrown in. Overall, it’s a mash-up of cozy mystery, thriller, and supernatural horror, but I really wasn’t sure where it was headed for a while—so if you’re someone who needs to be thrilled/gripped early on, you’ll need patience here.
The story is told from the third-person POV of Penny, and it has a dramatic start when her cat Popcorn goes missing during a blizzard. We immediately meet her best friend Margot, Margot’s religious grandmother Angie, and Greg, whose heart was broken by Penny, as they search for Popcorn. I immediately liked the characters and was intrigued. From there, the story deals with the aftermath of Popcorn’s disappearance, and the pacing is slower. Penny’s grieving & struggling creatively while trying to finish the 4th book in her Penny and Popcorn series, inspired by her real-life relationship with her cat. Her boyfriend Dean, who lives with her, becomes a major part of the story. Things start moving when they attend a party hosted by Dean’s wealthy client, Evelyn, and agree to pet-sit her cat, Godfrey, while Evelyn’s away.
By the 30% mark on audio, I began wondering, “Is this actually going to be a thriller or horror story?” as it felt more like a slower cozy mystery. But rest assured, once Godfrey arrives in Penny’s home, the book shifts gears. Unsettling supernatural occurrences, bizarre events, and a few grotesque scenes cause Penny’s paranoia to spiral while Dean (who’s always absent when things go wrong) is dismissive. For a while, I was questioning whether Penny was actually losing it and if she was hallucinating!
Without giving anything away, the story soon takes a darker direction than I expected. Demonic possession and demon lore aren’t my favorite horror tropes, and this book gets deep into those. There’s also a good amount of dark humor woven in, which helped lighten things. The combo of cats, grief, cartooning, suspicious characters, and increasingly disturbing events makes this a unique reading experience.
The chapters are short, and I liked how the story is separated into four parts—each section is a different part of Penny’s experience, and her personality definitely changes. It gets into over-the-top territory by Part Three, but the suspense also escalates by then, and there were moments where I was literally yelling at Penny to TAKE ACTION AND TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS!
I did manage to predict the big twists, but the direction the story takes toward the end is unpredictable. The climactic scenes are dark, vividly depicted, and pretty wild. I expect this book will have a mixed bag of reviews, but those who click with what the author’s doing here and enjoy demonic possession stories will probably LOVE it!
If you’re considering this one, I HIGHLY recommend the audiobook. Stephanie Neméth-Parker kept me fully engaged from beginning to end and brought all of the colorful and suspicious characters to life. I especially loved her narration of Penny’s scenes with Godfrey, including all the funny and creepy cat sounds. Her performance gets an easy 5 ⭐️ from me! Definitely go for the audio here!!
Narrator Performance
Look What the Cat Dragged In is narrated by award-winning narrator Stephanie Németh-Parker, and I was SO excited when I saw she was narrating this one, as she’s become one of my favorite narrators recently.
Early on, Parker gives Penny a distressed, emotional voice that makes you know how much she loves her cat Popcorn and how concerned she is when he goes missing during the blizzard. As the reality of Popcorn’s disappearance sets in, Parker shifts Penny’s energy—her voice sounds more subdued and weighed down by grief, and I really felt for her.
When she first meets the black cat Godfrey at Evelyn Brulé’s party, you can hear a little spark of happiness return to Penny’s voice, and you can feel the connection between her and the cat. But once Godfrey comes to stay with Penny and strange things happen around the house, Parker subtly shifts Penny’s voice again to sound suspicious, anxious, and unsettled. This is most noticeable when Penny’s dealing with characters like Dr. Belami or trying to explain everything to Dean. You can hear her frustration as Dean dismisses her suspicions and is more concerned with her mental health. Their conversations get strained, and Parker does a great job capturing the tension between them.
A major highlight for me was Parker’s narration of Penny’s inner monologues as her paranoia escalated. She begins questioning whether what she’s seeing and hearing is happening or whether it’s all in her head, and Parker captures her uncertainty so well that she made me question Penny’s sanity right alongside her!
I also really enjoyed the distinct voices she gives to characters like Margot and her grandmother Angie. They are given such a different energy from Penny, and you can hear how supportive, warm, and protective they are of her after Popcorn disappears. And Greg was another standout for me. Parker gives him a warmth and authenticity that makes it obvious he still has feelings for Penny. The underlying chemistry between them is also evident early on, and I liked how Parker slowly shifted their dynamic to make it believable.
Even though the story eventually went in a direction that I wasn’t completely invested in and became a little over-the-top, Parker’s performance kept me fully engaged. The pacing is also somewhat uneven in places, but she keeps the tension and suspense alive. The climactic scenes are so vividly narrated and immersive that I felt like I was right there with the characters—squirming, grossed out, horrified, and watching everything unfold!
If you’re considering this book, I HIGHLY recommend the audiobook. Parker’s narration really elevates the story, and even if uneven pacing or dark demonic-possession lore aren’t your thing, she keeps the experience entertaining from beginning to end. I wouldn’t have enjoyed this nearly as much if I had read a physical copy. Her performance deserves every one of those five stars, and this is a perfect listen for spooky season!
Narrator Performance
Look What the Cat Dragged In is narrated by award-winning narrator Stephanie Németh-Parker, and I was SO excited when I saw she was narrating this one, as she’s become one of my favorite narrators recently.
Early on, Parker gives Penny a distressed, emotional voice that makes you know how much she loves her cat Popcorn and how concerned she is when he goes missing during the blizzard. As the reality of Popcorn’s disappearance sets in, Parker shifts Penny’s energy—her voice sounds more subdued and weighed down by grief, and I really felt for her.
When she first meets the black cat Godfrey at Evelyn Brulé’s party, you can hear a little spark of happiness return to Penny’s voice, and you can feel the connection between her and the cat. But once Godfrey comes to stay with Penny and strange things happen around the house, Parker subtly shifts Penny’s voice again to sound suspicious, anxious, and unsettled. This is most noticeable when Penny’s dealing with characters like Dr. Belami or trying to explain everything to Dean. You can hear her frustration as Dean dismisses her suspicions and is more concerned with her mental health. Their conversations get strained, and Parker does a great job capturing the tension between them.
A major highlight for me was Parker’s narration of Penny’s inner monologues as her paranoia escalated. She begins questioning whether what she’s seeing and hearing is happening or whether it’s all in her head, and Parker captures her uncertainty so well that she made me question Penny’s sanity right alongside her!
I also really enjoyed the distinct voices she gives to characters like Margot and her grandmother Angie. They are given such a different energy from Penny, and you can hear how supportive, warm, and protective they are of her after Popcorn disappears. And Greg was another standout for me. Parker gives him a warmth and authenticity that makes it obvious he still has feelings for Penny. The underlying chemistry between them is also evident early on, and I liked how Parker slowly shifted their dynamic to make it believable.
Even though the story eventually went in a direction that I wasn’t completely invested in and became a little over-the-top, Parker’s performance kept me fully engaged. The pacing is also somewhat uneven in places, but she keeps the tension and suspense alive. The climactic scenes are so vividly narrated and immersive that I felt like I was right there with the characters—squirming, grossed out, horrified, and watching everything unfold!
If you’re considering this book, I HIGHLY recommend the audiobook. Parker’s narration really elevates the story, and even if uneven pacing or dark demonic-possession lore aren’t your thing, she keeps the experience entertaining from beginning to end. I wouldn’t have enjoyed this nearly as much if I had read a physical copy. Her performance deserves every one of those five stars, and this is a perfect listen for spooky season!
Look What the Cat Dragged In is narrated by award-winning narrator Stephanie Németh-Parker, and I was SO excited when I saw she was narrating this one, as she’s become one of my favorite narrators recently.
Early on, Parker gives Penny a distressed, emotional voice that makes you know how much she loves her cat Popcorn and how concerned she is when he goes missing during the blizzard. As the reality of Popcorn’s disappearance sets in, Parker shifts Penny’s energy—her voice sounds more subdued and weighed down by grief, and I really felt for her.
When she first meets the black cat Godfrey at Evelyn Brulé’s party, you can hear a little spark of happiness return to Penny’s voice, and you can feel the connection between her and the cat. But once Godfrey comes to stay with Penny and strange things happen around the house, Parker subtly shifts Penny’s voice again to sound suspicious, anxious, and unsettled. This is most noticeable when Penny’s dealing with characters like Dr. Belami or trying to explain everything to Dean. You can hear her frustration as Dean dismisses her suspicions and is more concerned with her mental health. Their conversations get strained, and Parker does a great job capturing the tension between them.
A major highlight for me was Parker’s narration of Penny’s inner monologues as her paranoia escalated. She begins questioning whether what she’s seeing and hearing is happening or whether it’s all in her head, and Parker captures her uncertainty so well that she made me question Penny’s sanity right alongside her!
I also really enjoyed the distinct voices she gives to characters like Margot and her grandmother Angie. They are given such a different energy from Penny, and you can hear how supportive, warm, and protective they are of her after Popcorn disappears. And Greg was another standout for me. Parker gives him a warmth and authenticity that makes it obvious he still has feelings for Penny. The underlying chemistry between them is also evident early on, and I liked how Parker slowly shifted their dynamic to make it believable.
Even though the story eventually went in a direction that I wasn’t completely invested in and became a little over-the-top, Parker’s performance kept me fully engaged. The pacing is also somewhat uneven in places, but she keeps the tension and suspense alive. The climactic scenes are so vividly narrated and immersive that I felt like I was right there with the characters—squirming, grossed out, horrified, and watching everything unfold!
If you’re considering this book, I HIGHLY recommend the audiobook. Parker’s narration really elevates the story, and even if uneven pacing or dark demonic-possession lore aren’t your thing, she keeps the experience entertaining from beginning to end. I wouldn’t have enjoyed this nearly as much if I had read a physical copy. Her performance deserves every one of those five stars, and this is a perfect listen for spooky season!
